Sign up to receive Providence Business News' newsletters and breaking news alerts.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Job openings in U.S. rise to 3-year high in March

JOB OPENINGS in the U.S. rose in March to the highest level in more than three years. For a larger version of these graphs, click HERE.

COURTESY BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Posted:
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 12:09 pm

By Shobhana ChandraBloomberg News

WASHINGTON - Job openings in the U.S. rose in March to the highest level in more than three years, a sign that employers may be looking to take on more staff as the economy grows.

The number of positions waiting to be filled increased the most since July 2008 to 3.74 million from a revised 3.57 million the prior month that was larger than previously estimated, the Labor Department said today in a statement posted on its website.

Hiring slowed and firings were little changed during March.

Improving prospects may lure more workers into the labor market and help the world’s largest economy cut into the 5 million-job deficit that remains as a result of the recession that ended in June 2009.

Faster hiring and the accompanying wage gains are needed to sustain consumer spending, which grew in the first quarter at the fastest pace in more than a year.

“The degree of caution among employers may be abating somewhat,” Stephen Stanley, chief economist for Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. “It’ll still be a slow grind.”

Get the most up-to-date data on the Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts business community from the PBN List Center. Download and purchase PBN Lists as well as the complete Book of Lists in Excel format.